Embezzlement – A Treacherous Path – Part 3

The two most common ways an employer first hears about an act of embezzlement is through circumstantial evidence reported by other employees or through the results of either an internal or external audit. It is only natural to receive the warning with a certain amount of incredulity.

After receiving the news, the employer must be careful. News of embezzlement can spread like a wild fire and can easily come back to haunt the company and the employer.

But, the employer must take protective action. For serious business matters, most employers use professionals. This is no time to change policy. Contact a professional Private Investigator immediately.

Contain the embezzlement information and control the emotions. Do not make a key decision until you have received professional advice. There is no quick fix for acts of embezzlement. The chances are good that the employer’s initial report only touches the surface or the embezzlement scheme.

Employee claims of defamation are filling courtrooms and can prove to be more expensive than the actual embezzlement. Acts of embezzlement are rarely singular. Be careful which employees become aware of the possible crime. Premature disclosure can delay resolution and lead to disastrous consequences.

Again, the employer’s goal is to contain the damage, rid the company of the virus and restore the assets. A hasty confrontation or a clumsy effort to reclaim the assets can be disastrous. This problem needs complete and thorough resolution. Hire a professional.

The Private Investigator will check the sources, interview appropriate employees and identify all possible company loopholes. The Private Investigator may use a number of resources, including thorough and current background checks, credit checks and personal information checks to gather relevant material.

The goal is to gather enough information to focus the investigation on as small a group of employees as possible and with as little disclosure as possible. In the Navy, sailors still say, “loose lips sink ships.” Loose lips definitely hurt embezzlement cases.

Management may want to assign a neutral company observer to assist the Private Investigator. This observer can sit in on interviews, help procure and authenticate written statements and report directly to the CEO. Business must go on.

Together with the investigator, the observer can also assist in constructing anti-embezzlement policies for the future. Every embezzlement investigation will recover follow-up interviews. Occasionally, an employee will come forward. A this time, the Private Investigator and the company observer must have a synchronized plan to facilitate revelations, including the accumulation of important supporting data. The supervised presence of a company observer often serves to encourage the perpetrator.